Low Water Crossing Book Blog Tour, Review, and #Giveawy #LoneStarLit

Posted October 12, 2020 by Lynn in Blog Tours, Giveaways, Reviews / 2 Comments

LOW WATER CROSSING
Book Two of the Sulfur Gap Series
by
DANA GLOSSBRENNER
 
Genre: Literary Fiction / Family Saga 
Independently published
Date of Publication: July 19, 2020
Number of Pages: 476

Scroll down for the giveaway!

 

 

 

Low Water Crossing is a tribute to those who endure heartache and nevertheless celebrate, to those who wait—and live full lives while waiting.

A backhoe unearths a human skeleton buried on Wayne Cheadham’s West Texas ranch. The investigation points a grisly finger at Wayne’s first wife. And so begins the wild ride through twenty-five years of love and heartbreak.

 

Wayne’s a highly eligible bachelor who runs into trouble, first because he’s naïve, and next because, well, life is unpredictable. He’s a loveable guy with a peaceful outlook. Just about anyone wants the best for him, dang it. To cope with sadness, he arranges for an old steel-girded bridge to be placed in the dry pasture in front of his house. Says it helps him adjust his perspective. Others say it’s the world’s largest yard ornament. He takes in stray emus and abandoned horses and becomes a mentor to a loveable little boy without much family. He sits and ponders his plight at a low-water crossing over the creek.

A cast of characters from the fictional small West Texas town of Sulfur Gapthe staff of a high school burger shop hangout on the Interstate, coffee groups at the Navaho Café, hair stylists from the Wild Hare, a local sheriff and his deputies, and the band at the local honky-tonkknits together the community surrounding Wayne, and all bring their own quirks. People you’d find anywhere, some with thicker Texas twangs than others. 


The town, the ranch, and familiar Texas cities such as San Angelo, Abilene, and Austin provide a backdrop for universal themes of love, grief, and loyalty.

                          
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Low Water Crossing is one of those books that I found difficult to categorize or explain when asked what I was reading. I re-read the synopsis and thought, yep, that pretty much covers it! I can certainly agree that this book is an appreciation for the heartache of the main character, Wayne Cheadham, and the three loves of his life.

 

While this novel is not a typical romance, it is told from the point of view of each of Wayne’s romantic interests, interspersed with Wayne’s own thoughts. As for each one of Wayne’s romantic interests,
  • Lucy made me uncomfortable right from the start. She knows what she wants (a husband) and will do what it takes to get one. She’s had a horrible upbringing and is looking for any escape. What strikes me most about Lucy though is that I can see where she’s coming from. She uses her brains (and other assets) to make the most of her situation. And like Lucy, Wayne’s disinterest in hashing out any argument would drive me crazy. I kept shouting at Wayne (in my head) to use his words and say what he wanted.
  • I don’t want to spoil Cynthia’s story in this review, especially how she ends up in Sulfur Gap. It is remarkably interesting story, to say the least. The relationship with Cynthia honestly shows how Wayne’s character really ‘grows up’ after his relationship with Lucy. I really enjoyed how, in this section, Wayne has taken on a menagerie of pets, including two llamas with some great names:

“And he takes in llamas (he has two, Dolly and Ding-dong –after the Dalai Lama and the old song, “Shama Llama Ding-dong”)

If I had llamas, I would totally steal these names. They are genius and punny!

  • Of the three women in Wayne’s life, Lou is the one I would most want to meet in person. She’s down to earth, enjoys simple pleasures, takes in a stray dog, makes friends quickly, and can kick some serious bad guy butt while she’s at it. I think it’s cool that she’s drummer. What really strikes me about the relationship between Lou and Wayne is that it is a fully adult relationship. Both know what they want and they are not shy about stating what that is. Third time is certainly the charm in relationships for Wayne.

We see Wayne through the eyes of his romantic partners more so than through his own eyes. But we also see Wayne’s progression into adulthood. He’s become more comfortable in his own skin, with his family, and with his lot in life by the end of the novel.

One of my challenges while reading Low Water Crossing is that I tend to read more plot driven novels and this novel is character driven for certain. I found myself wanting some action instead of dialog at the beginning of the novel. But by the end, I really empathized with the characters. I was never sure what would happen with the different relationships but kept turning the pages to find out if there would be a happy ending for all the characters involved.

 

Ms. Glossbrenner’s writing is built on dialog (internal and external) more than on descriptions. Character development is matter of fact. From Lou’s point of view at their wedding:
Wayne is the person he is today because of what he learned from those two marriages.
What a great way to show how Wayne has matured over the course of the novel.

 

Overall, I enjoyed reading Low Water Crossing. The novel is listed as the second in the series, but could be read as a stand-alone novel. (Though I’m certainly adding the first novel, The Lark, to my TBR list!) I recommend this novel to anyone interested in true emotional investment in West Texas characters.

 

 

Thanks to author Dana Glossbrenner and Lone Star Book Blog Tours for providing this opportunity to review Low Water Crossing. I received the novel free in exchange for my honest review.

 

 

Dana Glossbrenner has lived in West Texas all her life. She is the author of Women Behind Stained Glass: West Texas Pioneers (non-fiction) and The Lark: Book 1 of the Sulfur Gap Series.

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————————————-
GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!
TWO WINNERS: 1st winner gets signed copies of both books in the Sulfur Gap Series;
2nd winner gets a signed copy of
Low Water Crossing
. 

 

 October 6-16 , 2020
(U.S. Only)
Click on image to enter giveaway!
FOR DIRECT LINKS TO EACH POST ON THIS TOUR, UPDATED DAILY. 
Or, visit the blogs directly:
 

10/6/20

Review

Reading
by Moonlight

10/7/20

Excerpt

Texas Book Lover

10/7/20

BONUS
Post

Hall Ways Blog

10/8/20

Playlist

The Adventures of a Travelers Wife

10/9/20

Review

Bibliotica

10/10/20

Deleted
Scene

All the Ups and Downs

10/11/20

Author
Interview

The
Page Unbound

10/12/20

Review

Chapter
Break Book Blog

10/13/20

Scrapbook
Page

Max
Knight

10/14/20

Review

StoreyBook Reviews

10/15/20

Review

The Clueless Gent

 
   
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Posted October 12, 2020 by Lynn in Blog Tours, Giveaways, Reviews / 2 Comments

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2 responses to “Low Water Crossing Book Blog Tour, Review, and #Giveawy #LoneStarLit

  1. It’s hard to adjust to character driven when you’re used to plot driven, but it sounds like this book sucks in the reader with these complex relationships! Thanks for the review!